Living your Life
by Zarinha Lobo
Summary: What if Edward wasn’t born to Mr. and Mrs. Masen in 1901, but Bella was? Growing up as Isabella Marie Masen in early 18th century she nearly died age 17 but was rescued by Carlisle. Edward on the other hand just moved to Forks...
1. Chapter 1

So here's the story. What if Edward wasn't born to Mr. and Mrs. Masen in 1901, but Bella was? Growing up as Isabella Marie Masen in early 18th century she nearly died age 17 but was rescued by Carlisle (you know that story). Anyway Rosalie never became one of them, because after having Esme Carlisle was looking for a boy for Bella, rather than a girl. Oh right –and Edward has of course just moved to Forks, staying at his father's house –chief he is around there I think… ;)

Chapter 1

When we got up from our table they had already surrounded him. Like a buzzing group of bees they were flying all around him. Jessica up front of course, but Lauren and some of the others close by. I shook my head in disbelieve. "New kid" Emmett grinned.

"Poor bastard is gonna get himself eaten up by that Stanley girl, isn't he?" Emmett chuckled and threw him a second glance. "I feel kinda sorry for him already, don't you, sis?"

I shrugged. I just didn't care enough. We passed them without giving them another look. "Three weeks and no one will notice him." Emmett didn't give up on the topic yet.

"What did you see about him anyways?" He was already halfway around a corner and I had to get to my next class, opposite direction. Thinking about his question I realized that I hadn't even looked. "I'll look out for that tomorrow, Em." I told him in my normal voice, while I was getting in my classroom. He would have heard it still and I really didn't give a thing about Mike Newton's baffled face as he couldn't seem to understand who I was talking to. "Hi Mike." I said in my honey voice and winked at him. He looked even more puzzled now and tried to get to his seat without stumbling, still looking in my direction confused and than a minute or so after I had approached him he noticed he had never answered. "Er –hi Isabella" He stuttered but I wasn't looking anymore. I had been in my seat before he even started realizing. Then there was chattering outside the classroom door, as Jessica Stanley was leading the new kid to his next class as it seemed. I could hear them very clearly, but I think even the other students were pretty much able to pick up every word Jessica said. And I think this is what she wanted. The boy talked more quietly though and not that enthusiastic. "I'll catch you later, Eddie!" Jessica shouted. "It's Edward." The boy mumbled and a part of him seemed to be annoyed of Jessica already. I grinned involuntary and concentrated on the I-pod. Alice had just given it to me some weeks ago as I had complained about the boring ours of high school ones again. It was stuck in my bag and Debussy was playing, but so quietly, that no human ear in this room would be able to hear it. I for that part only had to try and block out all of the students voices and focus on the music and it would be just the right volume for me. While I was on it I got out a piece of paper and started doodling. I was going for the Mona Lisa, but in the end the face looked more like Esme's. Naturally, she was the one I painted the most. My foster mom was the most beautiful creature I could imagine. I loved her so much, but then again I loved all of my family incredibly. Carlisle who saved me from dying, some decades ago, Esme, whom he found a little later, Emmett, my beloved teddy bear brother, always calling me his little sister, even though I technically am some years older than he is. Well, not in years of my life I guess. Alice and Jasper joined us later on, but I always felt very close to them, especially Alice. Emmett likes to call us his little twin sisters. That's what we're going for in this high school, too. After Alice had grown her hair we actually did start to look alike. It worked for the Forks people just as well and we didn't have much contact to the other kids anyway.

Deep in my thoughts as I was I didn't notice Edward, the new kid, taking the seat right next to me. He was already starring at me like I was some kind of ghost or something. Well I kind of was. Preparing myself for the standard- Cullen- welcome- speech, (which were some very polite and normal sentences just like "Hello, allow me to introduce myself, my name is Isabella Cullen. It is very nice to meet you." but never missing the warning subtext "Don't get too excited. I'm not interested. No. Never") I took a deep breath and … nearly fainted. My thoughts spun like a rollercoaster as I stopped dead in every move, trying desperately to control myself. Smells – too – good – can't - resist. Hearing the mumbling of the other students behind our backs brought me back for just a second, to let me realize that I was risking everything at this very moment. Bracing myself for my last final sentence of suffering, for the one and only thought that could get me out of this situation without starting a huge massacre had just occurred to me. Smiling the best and least hungry as I managed, I turned to the doomed boy and said: "Do you think you could take me to the nurse's office?" I held my breath. Say yes! Say it, fool! The boy nodded dumbstruck and offered his arm. _Do you want to die sooner?_ I shook my head hardly and walked out of the classroom in front of him, leading him away from class, away from the nurse's office, away from any living witnesses.

"Are you alright?" I heard his soft voice from behind me. I nodded quickly, hoping he would shut up. Getting to know him wouldn't make this easier, but then again it really didn't matter. Just imagining the smell made my thoughts go mad again. "I don't think we're going in the right direction, though." He sounded worried. He probably thought I had lost it totally. Hell he was right. "I just remembered." I pressed, trying not to breathe again. "I left my asthma spray in the car. I really need it, you know." Asthma. Oh my. If this wasn't the lamest excuse I had ever made. But who cared I already saw the car, just some minutes now. I'd be driving him away. Just inside the woods I supposed. I wouldn't be able to stand the smell much longer. Or the plain thought of it. Lingering. Uh. "It's over here." I gestured towards my blue mustang. "This is so cool." He whispered, touching the engine bonnet impressed. Instantly I had the clue for getting him off the school grounds. Smirking at him conspiratorially I asked: "Want to drive it?" "For real?" He looked at the car, than at me. "Don't you feel sick anymore?" I shook my head way to enthusiastic. "I'm fine." I lied. "Come on get in! Just a five minute spin. No one will notice and I'll tell the teacher we had to get my medicine." He didn't think about it for long. My flirty looks and encouraging smiles must have done the rest. Carefully climbing in my vehicle, taking one last breath outside, so I wouldn't have to smell him too much, I gave him the keys and he started the car, moving backwards out off the car spot. "Up to the road!" suggested innocently. This couldn't be this easy, could it? But he was off the parking lot in a bit and I was preparing for my next move, as – "Pull over for me, Edward, will you?"

Alice! NO! I inhaled in shock. TOO MUCH. My teeth snapped just millimeters from his gorgeous neck. "Not today, sister." Emmett's grip had me clued to my seat and somewhere outside of my madly spinning mind I could hear Alice's voice as she approached my food. "Just turn off the engine, Edward and get out of the car."

And then Emmett, chuckling now: "Yeah. Don't worry about her, kid. We think it is rabies."


	2. Chapter 2

_Sorry for all the mistakes I'm probably making. And sorry for spelling Emmett wrong in Chapter 1 –how embarrassing! I hope I corrected it all now. And yeah here we go…_

Chapter 2

We all sat at the big table once again. I hated being the center of every ones attention. At least if it was a negative cause like today. Esme looked sternly, Carlisle thoughtful, Jasper comforting and Emmett didn't seem to see it as a really big deal. Alice was the worst actually. She just couldn't stop smiling. "What are you grinning about, traitor?" I hissed. Of course I knew she was no traitor. Thanks to her nothing bad had happened today, but still. She took him away from me. His ambrosial blood. Warm and pulsing underneath his warm soft skin… "She's doing it again." Jasper said quietly. Emmett moved closer to my side, arms ready to outstretch and hold me before I could do anything stupid.

"Sorry, Belle" Jasper whispered. "Never mind, Judas" I hissed back. Jasper looked hurt and Alice went to stand behind him, comforting him instantly. "I saw it, too." She said still smiling. "And she _could_ outrun Emmett in this state she's in." Emmett let out a growl of laughter. "Damn that kid must smell delicious then!"

I didn't even bother to look amused. "What am I supposed to do?" My eyes were set on Esme's, as naturally as the eyes of everyone beside myself were focused on Carlisle.

"I can take her to the Denali." Emmett offered. "How very selfless of you." Jasper said grinning. I had to laugh involuntary. Emmett would take any opportunity to go and see his love mate Tanya, down in Alaska. Their relationship was nothing like Alice and Jasper's, as you could see in the fact, that neither one of them was willing to move in with the other one and therefore give up his or her family, but still they shared a loving relationship. Loving especially in the physical way I guess. Esme breathed at ease and I realized that having concentrated on something other than –no I did not want to think about that again. Anyway I was giving Jasper a grateful smile. He was still the best. They all were. "I'm so sorry to put you through all this." I whispered. Esme smiled at me sadly. "Just don't leave."

I winced. I hated making Esme sad, more than anything else.

"Let's ask Alice for a start." Carlisle gave my sister a nod and Alice's smile grew wider. "Well I saw something quite extraordinary and you'll be very surprised if I tell you that our Belle and Edward Swan …" Her smile widened even more and then her face broke. It just fell apart from one second to the next, her eyes widening in disbelieving shook. "NO!"

I could feel Emmett's hands on me before she could get the cry out properly. I didn't try to get away and I wasn't thinking about leaving and killing the boy before either. "Alice?" Esme's voice was soft and worried. Alice shook her head confused, but after looking at Emmett having me pressed to my seat she looked more at ease.

"Um that's weird actually." She looked at me, than Jasper, than Carlisle. "His future just – stopped. But I don't see you attacking, Belle."

I shrugged unimpressed. I knew I wasn't. Carlisle faked the sound of clearing his throat and looked me deep in the eyes. I wasn't sure if my foster parent was giving me this look to remember be of what I was, a vegetarian vampire who didn't want to kill _any_ human being. _Not even one so tempting?_ "I think you need to hunt before anything else, Isabel." He said quietly. "Emmett and Jasper can go with you and afterwards we'll have to discuss this a bit longer. It will probably help you to focus on not focusing on that boys smell."

I sighed. That was Carlisle. Always having the best, most reasonable ideas. Of course Emmet was hooked in a second. "Yey!" He crowed. "Belle hunting!"

He was next to Jasper in a bit and gave him a batch with his elbow. "Remember last time when she tried to get that Lynx, but forgot to keep it to the ground and it was just dragging her along like a doll for about half a mile before she even realized!" Emmett and Jasper were laughing madly. "And do _you_ remember the time we were over at the sea and she was going for that baby shark –"

"It was not a baby!" I yelled sourly at Jasper. "It was a big white and it was very big and white." I pushed my lower lip in front of my upper lip and made a stubborn face.

Jasper didn't even look at me. "And – and it just didn't notice it was being attacked _at all_ and didn't stop trying to eat her food over and over again, not understanding how it could still be there."

Emmett cracked another laugh. Alice stepped behind them chuckling too and gave the boys and innocent smile.

"And do you guys remember how Belle ones told you she had two really big bears caught for you in a big trap and how you got all into that frenzy and just jumped into the big hole she had been digging and how you bit off the heads of these skunks, before you even realized what had happened?"

Jasper and Emmett weren't laughing anymore. "That was so funny. The first puking vampires ever." Alice finished her speech and I gave her my warmest sisterly smile.

"No we don't remember that." Jasper mouthed and Emmett, crossing his arms in front of his chest looked at us in disgust for bringing up a topic like this.

"Let's get to that hunt already." He and Jasper were out front in less than a second, but I was right behind them. "How about hunting in Denali, though?" Emmett suggested inconspicuously. "I think it's polar bear season." I let out a growl of laughter. "It's _always_ polar bear season in Alaska, Teddy." I reminded him. "These lucky bastards." Emmett grinned. "What are we waiting for then?"

I was just about to get in as three things happened simultaneously. I took a deep breath, to give Emmett a nice answer to his question, Alice appeared right next to me, looking very worried and Emmett grabbing me tightly one more time that day. Too late. I had smelled it. I smelled him! _Food glorious food! _The old melody from the Oliver Twist Musical was playing mockingly in my head. "What is it, Alice?" Emmett demanded, fighting against my struggle now and then speaking up a bit: "Jasper I'm going to need you here!" The calming mood came to me seconds before I felt Jaspers hands on my shoulder. Alice snarled at the surrounding trees. Something she didn't do often, when she wasn't hunting.

"Seems as if we got ourselves some visitors. I smell them now. It's that new kid and a couple of other guys. At least one of them smells badly like wet dog." We all knew what Emmett's words meant. "What do we do?" Jasper whispered.

"Why did he tell on me?" I demanded, much more disappointed than I thought I could be, because of the acting of a human boy.

"We are just going to act normal." Carlisle's quiet voice made us relax to a point. "Listen to me now." He started telling us his plan in less than a second, his voice so low and fast that no human ears would have been able to get anything he said. Then he put his voice back to normal human volume. "So what exactly happened today at school, kids?" "We are not quite sure, dad." Alice said in her sing sang voice. "Something happened to Isabel. Maybe she is sick." Jasper and Emmett nodded exaggerating a bit. "We think it's probably best to take her to the hospital." Jasper added. "Getting her checked over."

"That's just what I thought. Emmett, Jasper get her in the car I'll take care of her in the hospital. She'll probably have to drop out of school for a couple of weeks." My brothers shoved me in the car, which jumped to a start instantly. As Carlisle drove us part the near bushes I saw him. Hiding behind a rhododendron with only his eyes glimpsing through some branches. He had a weird look on his face as his eyes locked with mine for a second. Somehow bemused but also sad, but I was probably just imagining that. I didn't give much attention to the smaller boy standing right next to him, he didn't matter, but while we were driving on I forced myself to let go of the jade green eyes of the marvelous smelling boy and searched the trees behind them for something else. It was just before the little patch of wood got out of my sight that I found what I was looking for. An angry pair of dark brown eyes, encircled by the scrubby fur of a bear sized wolf.


	3. Chapter 3

_Thank you all so much for all you reviews – really supportive :)__ so I wasn't sure about the change of POV, but I did it now anyway so tell me what you think!_

_And somebody asked about Rose -she just didn't get changed by Carlisle because he didn't change Edward and hence didn't need to change a girl for him to become his mate (like in Twilight) instead he changed Emmett for Bella, but of course they were never more than brother and sister -just like Edward and Rose. Does that make any sence?  
_

Chapter 3

_**Edward POV**_

My first day at the new school had been everything I expected and worse.

As I finally arrived at Charlie's house (I didn't like to call it my house, or even home, yet) there was an unfamiliar red truck parked in Charlie's parking spot. A bronze skinned boy with long hair grinned at me widely and came towards me, right hand stretched out to shake mine. "Jacob Black." He grinned. "You look like you just saw a ghost. Never seen an Indian boy before?"

It took me a moment to realize that he was taking my still shaken expression as a reaction to himself. Hastily I shook my head and finally reached out to shake hands with him. "I'm very sorry. Something extraordinarily strange just happened to me and I er – you probably think I'm nuts already."

I looked into his face and was relieved to see that the smile seemed to be stuck in there all the time. "I'm Edward Swan." I added remembering that he had just introduced himself. How would I ever get a good start in this town if I didn't stop behaving like this? I started searching my head desperately for a conversation that would sound normal and non freaky. So far this was the first person who seemed to want to be friendly to me without expecting anything in return, like that girl in school –what was her name again? Janine? She had gotten me before I even entered that school. I knew that it wasn't a good idea to have Charlie drop me off with his police car. I was nearly too late and everyone looked and there she was tearing me all around the school, showing me off to her friends and babbling on and on about things I wasn't interested in the slightest. I shook of the thoughts and my eyes got caught by the red truck again and I almost sighed in relief. "Nice car you got there." Finally an unsuspicious topic. It seemed to be alright enough for Jacob at least. He stroke his fingers over the back of the car as if he was patting a dog. "It's yours actually. Didn't Charlie tell you?" He said. "Are you serious?" I felt the urgent need to stroke the car myself as I took a second look at it, imagining it with me inside. I had always wanted my own car, but mom had never had enough money and I wouldn't have dreamed about asking Charlie. In the end it moving here wasn't so bad after all. I was crazy about cars! "I was mend to bring it over yesterday with Billy, so that you could ride it to school today, but I wanted to put some extra speed in it. Thought you might like it. It's kind of a guy thing I guess. My sister wasn't too impressed as I told her on the phone, but she said as long as I'm not fixing up the cars of any innocent, fragile girls… Do you like it?" He looked at me carefully, but now it was me who was grinning heavily. "This is so great! And you tuned it up?" There was a _real_ good topic and I had him babbling about fixing up my new car for about ten minutes. We got inside after a while, chatting on and I fixed us some drinks. It was really easy to be around this kid, even if he was a bit younger than me.

"What was this thing that scared you earlier?" He suddenly asked. I knew what he was talking about immediately, I assumed he would have asked me sooner, but didn't want to be rude. Actually I really did not want to talk about what had happened between me and that strange girl, but Jacob was the first person to really be nice to me here and I didn't want to risk that possible friendship. "I kind of had a collide with one of the girls at my high school." I started carefully.

He laughed. "Is she hot?"

"I don't know." I took a second to consider, to look at her that way. She was scary alright. Mysterious and crazy, but had she been pretty? I recalled seeing her for the first time, while I was entering the classroom. How could I have forgotten that moment. No she wasn't hot. She was the most beautiful, breathtaking, gorgeous creature I had ever seen in my entire life.

"Looks like she was pretty damn hot!" Jacob gave me a pat on the back, judging my face that must have looked dreamingly and stupid.

"It's not that though." I added hastily. "It's her and her whole family. She was acting really weird and then all of them looked really strange. Not ugly at all, but somehow not _normal_ I guess. Like they're not from this world or something." I struggled with the words and didn't expect Jacob to understand a bit of it. To my total surprise he was grinning again. "You met the Cullens, didn't you?"

The _Cullens_. He said the unfamiliar surname like there really _was_ some kind of mystery going on about that family. "How do you know who I meant?" I asked skeptically.

Jacob sighed and counted the reasons, holding up one finger for each reason: "Pale, incredibly good looking, loners…" Yeah he seemed to know them. "Anyway one of them, the pretty girl, acted _really_ strange. She more or less tricked me into her car –it's an old Mustang" I told him casually. He gave me a painful look. "Ah – I would have gotten into that car as well." I smiled at him. "Well the really strange part was when we started driving and she tried to bite me out of the blue." I finished my story, watching Jacobs every facial mood anxiously. He looked thoughtful at first, then chuckled as if laughing about a secret joke. "I know some certain people that would really like that story, Edward." He was serious in about a second and looked at me fiercely. "Have you ever heard about any Quileute Legends?" I shook my head and Jacob started to talk.

After he had finished I just stood there not sure if I was supposed to laugh at his story or not. He didn't really seem to be sure either. "Maybe the Cullens do know about the rumors and now they are trying to scare people. You know –like a bad joke or something."

I shrugged. "Yeah, maybe." "You want to you and find out?" He asked, suddenly thrilled. "I er I'm not so sure I do." I muttered. "I wouldn't want to spy on them and I don't even know where they live anyway." I hastily added. Jacob didn't even listen to me. He seemed to be enjoying this little adventure far too much. Within two steps he was passing our living room, reaching for the phone.

"Hang on a second. Let me just call a friend of mine. He'll know how to get to the Cullens, trust me!" Funny thing was I kind of did trust him already. Maybe it was because my father and his father had known each other since forever, but somehow I started to feel a string binding between Jacob and me. Jacob had already started to talk on the phone. "Hi Sam, yeah it's me, Jacob. Hey you remember the Cullens, don't you?" There was a pause and Jacob shook his head as if he had already known how his friend was going to react to this. "No. Relax, Sam. Nothing happened, ok? I was just wondering where they live these days. You mentioned them having a house in the forest ones, didn't you?" This time I could nearly understand the answer from that Sam. He was nearly shouting at Jacob. I could only get out the words 'Never' and 'Dangerous', but it was enough to get me even more suspicious about this family. "It's not like that Sam. I wasn't going to go over there. No. See my friend Edward here has this homework he's supposed to do with one of the Cullen girls and they forgot to give him the address." Jacob winked at me and I smiled uneasily back at him. Wasn't this going a bit far, just to spy on a totally strange family? Was I turning into a stalker at this very minute? Jacob seemed to have been successful. He grinned even wider as before, as the ended the conversation and handed the phone back to me. "Want to drive your new car?" He asked, raising his hand and throwing something silver in my direction. It was a pair of car keys.

Déjà vu. I sighed and climbed inside the red truck.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Edwards POV**_

Back at school the next day she didn't show up. I would have waited for Biology to be sure, but the second I got out of my car her big brother was standing next to me, patting my shoulder like an old pal and telling me with, what was probably meant to be an apologetic look, that Isabella had been taken to a doctor and that they found out that she was suffering from a rare sickness which brought you to strange actions against strangers. He told me not to worry though because she would just have to get used to me and then everything would be fine. Yeah right. As if I was buying that crap. Jacob and I had been sneaking up to their house the day before and there they had been, right in front of a strange glassy house. This Isabella girl and her older brother and they had been pretty calm, standing next to a car as all of a sudden the smaller girl had appeared right out of nowhere, followed by the blonde one who started tugging Isabella's arm, while the bigger one also held her pressed to the car. Jacob next to me had given me a blank look, then, just seconds after that, another man had appeared out of nowhere, talking much louder than the others, telling them to put Isabella inside the car, to drive her to the hospital. The boys were getting her inside the car and the car was gone in a blink. Strange thing is that I could swear I saw her eyes, looking at me. It was like they were grabbing for my eyes, but of course it all went by way to fast and I was probably just imagining it.

After that Jacob and I drove back to Charlie's house not speaking the whole way there. It was all too weird.

"Did you understand anything about that?" I asked him as we were standing in front of the house again. Jacob shook his head. "Nah I really didn't."

He paused and frowned, then leaned closer to me, and said in a low husky voice: "But man she's _hot_!"

I rolled my eyes. "She's much too old for you Jacob." I reminded him. He shrugged. "Yeah whatever. Try and get to know her better at school. Maybe there really is a secret about them or maybe there isn't. Anyway I would try and get to know her better if I had the chance."

He paused again. "Hey maybe I will."

Now I was frowning. The weird biting stuff in her car left aside, I really didn't want Jacob to get to know her better. I wanted to do it myself. There had been something in her eyes that was kind of. catchy.

And now I was sitting here, at lunch, having that annoying girl Jessica babbling at me again.


	5. Chapter 5

**Bellas POV**

I had been out of school for more than a week. Emmett had taken me hunting, well I was hunting, while he was busy doing other things, involving Tanya. I love Tanya and of course Emmett, but if these guys are together it is almost impossible to talk to any of them. I spent most of the time hunting on my own, chatting to Irina and Kate. Being given the possibility to think a lot I was really starting to doubt myself. How could I have let something like this put my whole family in danger? Everything we had worked for so long could have been brought down by one silly action of me. Also I couldn't exactly remember the smell of that boy anymore, having the ice cold winds of Alaska blowing through my nose, cleansing my senses once again.

So it was all too easy for me to say 'Yes' to the question, Carlisle asked me, before letting me go to school again a week later. "Are you ready Isabel?"

I was sure that I was. No human blood however attempting could let me put my family in danger again. Still I took Alice's advise, to get to class just in time, so I would be able to let him sit in the chair next to the window. I would be able to get out of the classroom in case of an emergency quicker this way and would not be trapped between his smell and the window.

I got inside the classroom just before the teacher. Edward was sitting in his chair, deep in thoughts. He didn't notice me taking the chair next to him, so I took all my strength together and faced the inevitable. "Hi Edward." My voice was honey like, as always and I was pretty sure he wouldn't notice the shakiness inside it. As I breathed in carefully, sending a burning ache down my throat he turned around, raising his eyebrows, starring at me in disbelief. To my utter surprise I felt a wave of frustration as he didn't answer and –even worse- turned away from me, facing the blackboard.

"Not talking to me today, are you?" I asked, trying to give my voice a casual sound.

"Not trying to bite me today, are you?" he shot back, still facing the front of the classroom.

I gasped taken aback. "That was –nothing. I mean-I didn't try to I didn't" Angry at my stumbled words, I crossed my arms, looking away from him now as well. If he wanted war, war he would get. As if I would care about stupid human's thoughts for one minute of my day. I didn't even remember why I had been fascinated about him in the first place. Hang on. I had never been fascinated about him. It had been his smell. Now that I remembered it came back to me like a cannonball. This smell of satisfaction. Ultimate satisfaction that I would get drinking this human's blood. It took me a while to calm myself down again, but as I did I realized, that I hadn't been thinking about killing him before, while he had been taking me by surprise with his rude comment. Happy with myself I thought about that for a while. I just had to distract myself, while I was around him. A different, more efficient kind of distraction, than the one I used to block out the annoying thoughts of the other students, but still distraction, nothing more.


End file.
